1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of treating fungal infection by administering a pharmaceutical composition comprising an extract of the leaf of M. oleifera. 
2. Description of the Related Art
Many skin diseases such as tinea and ringworm, which are initiated by the infection of dermatophytes, popularly exist and cause serious problems in tropical and semitropical areas. Most people who live in these areas suffer from these diseases, which are difficult to remove permanently. In general, these fungi live in the dead, top layer of skin cells in moist areas of the body, such as between the toes, the groin, and under the breasts. These fungal infections cause only a small amount of irritation. Other types of fungal infections may be more serious. They can penetrate into the cells and cause itching, swelling, blistering and scaling. In some cases, fungal infections can cause reactions elsewhere in the body. For example, a person may develop a rash on the finger or hand after coming into contact with an infected foot. The dermatophytes, Trichophyton, Epidermophyton, and Microsporum canis are commonly involved in these infections. However, their clinical differentiation is difficult and therefore clinical care is required by a physician or other healthcare professional in the treatment of these diseases (Beentje, 1994). Furthermore, most antifungal creams used currently in the areas of Asia and Far East are imported and expensive. The development of new and cheaper anti-fungal agents from local raw materials, such as Moringa is therefore worthwhile and necessary.
Moringa oleifera (also called horseradish tree or drumstick tree) is a plant originally found in the Himalayan regions of India. The plant belongs to the family of Moringaceae. It is a shrub and small deciduous tree of 2.5 m to 10 m in height. When matured, the fruit becomes brown and has 10-50 seeds inside (Vlahof et al., 2002). This plant is popularly grown in Africa, the Middle East, southeastern Asia, the Pacific Islands, the Caribbean Islands, southern America and is now widely planted in Taiwan and China. In India, the leaf and fruit of M. oleifera were originally used as vegetables with the root acting as a substitute for horseradish in cooking. This plant was also reported to contain various amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and nutrients (Nesamani, 1999). The constituents of the M. oleifera tree such as the leaf, flower, fruit, and bark have been anecdotally used as herbal medicines in treatments for inflammation, paralysis, and hypertension. Moreover, many reports indicate that M. oleifera has highly potent anti-inflammatory (Ezeamuzle et al., 1996), hepatoprotective (Pari and Kumar, 2002), antihypertensive (Faizi et al., 1995) and antitumor (Murakami et al., 1998) properties in humans. Also, its seed has strong coagulative and anti-microbial properties (Eilert et al., 1981). The seed oil has physical and chemical properties equivalent to that of olive oil and contains a large quantity of tocopherols (Tsaknis et al,. 1999). The leaf extracts in rats were found to regulate thyroid status and cholesterol levels (Tahiliani et al., 2000; Ghasi, 2000). Therefore it can be developed as a useful agent to treat high cholesterol.
In recent years, M. oleifera has been widely planted on a large scale in Taiwan and China and many people in these regions have been using the seed of Moringa as a herb in oral to treat athlete's foot and tinea and found that it is very effective. There are millions of people in Taiwan and China who have these foot diseases due to the humid weather and there are not many effective medicines used currently for curing these diseases. The demands on the production from this plant are therefore expected to increase in these regions. However, currently, there are no scientific reports relating this plant to foot-diseases. Here, for the first time, we provide evidence that certain extracts from this plant have anti-fungal properties. Therefore, it is possible that economic development of these extracts may lead to cheaper/easier to use oral anti-skin disease agents in the future.